Bellingcat delved into the German-language QAnon ecosystem to track the conspiracy's spread in Europe.
Trends observed included an interest in open source investigative tools that appeared influential in creating new & potentially harmful conspiracies.
bellingcat.com/news/2021/11/2…
Trends observed included an interest in open source investigative tools that appeared influential in creating new & potentially harmful conspiracies.
bellingcat.com/news/2021/11/2…
The research gathered millions of posts from Telegram channels that regularly shared QAnon-related content. 
It found that many of the same conspiracies, as well as mantras encouraging self learning and independent online discovery popular in English language QAnon communities, were also apparent in German language QAnon channels.
These behaviours are highly unlikely to be unique to Q followers in German speaking countries.
However, analysis of how the open source tools had been used offered an interesting insight into the regional evolution of QAnon and how it has been adapted for German language audiences.
It also provided some textbook examples of how not to conduct open source research or investigations.
Google Maps, for instance, was used to falsely bolster an online claim that a 2020 shooting in the Austrian capital, Vienna, was faked.
It was also seen being used by Q enthusiasts to promote panicked claims of child abuse for which there was no evidence.
Other tools to be frequently mentioned and used by German language Q followers included flight tracking sites, patent databases and business registries.
Some posts promoting theories devolved from the mis-use of these tools had racked up tens of thousands of views.
Despite that, most German language Q enthusiasts observed by Bellingcat did not appear to consider themselves open source researchers in the traditional sense, or even be aware of the field.
The term “open source investigations” is not common in the German language and many Q enthusiasts simply referred to their own “research” (recherche), with that word appearing tens of thousands of times in posts.
This is also a regular refrain in English language QAnon communities as well as in other conspiracy movements such as those associated with anti-vaxxers, Covid-19 truthers or 5G theories.
To be clear, not all of the theories found during Bellingcat’s German language research were borne from poorly conducted open source research.
But some of the most popular and far-spreading were.
But some of the most popular and far-spreading were.
Read the full article by @Johanna_Wild here: bellingcat.com/news/2021/11/2…
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